http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Liaoning , Dalian , Dalian en-us Tue, 10 Nov 09 04:52:31 +0000 Tue, 10 Nov 09 04:52:31 +0000 Chinese food appallingly familiar to most Americans is a very different beast in its home country. Learning how to order food was always the slowest of my grudgingly accelerating language skills when I was in Beijing mainly because all the restaurants we went to had pictures on the menu. Since I've been back I've been trying to learn the names of some of my favorite common foods. Eggplant here http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-433797.html Life here continues to be actionpacked. My boss Freddy has the energy of a preschooler which might explain why he works in a school he is constantly bouncing around talking at 300 miles an hour calling every 15 minutes to see if I need anything do I want to get breakfast how is my A.C working will I be in school tomorrow am I still alive and able to teach for him. Consequently my work e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-432609.html These last few days have been actionpacked. They have me jumping right in at the school. This week I have been shadowing teachers in classes taking notes on how to manage a room full of 4yearolds and helping out when necessarypossible. These little Chinese kids are as cute as I remember them. Classes are 90 minutes long with a 10 minute break. The kids seem to be amazingly proficient with th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-431590.html Wersquore back in China for a rest from our busy time in Canada. 43 nights in Canada 15 different beds. I had hoped to get caught up on my blogging this summer but it appears summer has caught up to me. We managed to see many relatives and friends during this hurried visit but didnrsquot get to see everyone we wanted to. Maybe in the Winter Holiday. Our priority was to spend time with the gr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-431266.html Due to my diligent practice of staying up til 5 AM back in the States I am quickly defeating my jetlag. Last night I slept from 10 to 7 pretty normal. Because China has only one time zone which is exactly 12 hours ahead of EST for those who are keeping track the sun rises here very early and anyone who knows me knows that the sun is my mortal enemy when it comes to sleeping in. My neighbor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-431049.html The flights were long and sleepless. My flight to Shanghai was delayed an hour and after little sleep and much fidgeting I arrived in Shanghai needing to go through customs recollect my baggage and then reenter the security checkpoint to get my connecting flight to Dalian the airline couldn't pass my luggage through to Dalian either because they are lazy or because Dalian has no customs offi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-430764.html Our first school year in China is finally drawing to a close. Term 4 has been very eventful. Dianne has really enjoyed her new job. Working in the same building as her replacement has allowed her to keep her finger on the pulse of a real operation while she does her head office functions. These involve the preparation of a lot of new course materials as well as many different exam papers for stude http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-412755.html The last month has been a whirlwind of activity and paper. B.C teacher licenses retirement pensions and VISA info was the first round. Then selling the house arranging for storage dealing with mail finances cards computers phones vehicles packing and sorting you know the routine. Everytime you check off something from your list 3 more things pop up. It has been invaluable to have Ric http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-409274.html The months since the spring holiday have been filled with visits weekend trips and surprising changes. My delightful parents came for a three week visit and toured me around Qingdao home of the 2008 Olympic sailing port and Dandong directly on North Korea's shores I partook in a glamourous photo shoot that lasted 10 hours without food and learned a model's life isn't actually as easy as it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-408303.html The start of term 4 is upon us and the biggest news is not that I have finally been replaced and get to start my new job as a stayathome spouse. The big news is that Dianne has been named the ESL Systems Coordinator for the entire Maple Leaf Education System as of May 4th. Irsquoll turn the blog over to her so she can describe the new jobHow do I describe my new job Well the job descriptio http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-393415.html Mundanity I feel as though it suits what the past couple of months have been since returning from holiday. I was sick with a lung infection for about 4 weeks check out my exciting lung xray in the photos and this weekend I was finally struck by a rather horrific stomach bug that has been plaguing our school. It was the first weekend I finally felt well enough to go out since my lung infection http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-387874.html Back from Canada a month ago where does the time go Well for me it is same old same old. Not all of our bags made it back so I had to take an unscheduled trip back to the airport to pick up the missing two cases. Luckily the principal was coming in about the same time so the school van was making a run to Dalian to pick him up as well as some school supplies at Metro. I got a ride to the airpo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-383800.html The five week break from school flew by leaving me with a whirlwind of memories from the places I visited across Southeast Asia. I'll give a very condensed version of events and let some of the pictures do the talking. We left Dalian on January 19th and flew to Hangzhou just outside of Shanghai. While we were really only there a few hours discounting sleep we managed to squeeze in a boatrid http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-375712.html After a funfilled four days in Hong Kong we returned for three days of classes before the New Yearrsquos break. We decided to be lower key this weekend and booked two nights in at the Kempinski hotel in downtown Dalian. Almost like booking a hotel in your own city but comparing downtown Dalian to Manjiatan is like comparing night and day.Classes were out at noon on New Yearrsquos Eve so all http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-363589.html The four day Christmas Break finally arrived. No rest for us however as we were up at 500 am Christmas Day to get ready for our 600 am pickup by our driver who whisked the four of us off to the Dalian airport. We were off to Hong Kong with Thomas a teacher from the school and his wife Fengwei who grew up in China and went to high school in Hong Kong. She trained as a nurse in Britain and m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-362698.html I worked hard to bring Christmas to China when I was packing for this journey in the summer. I sent a box that had a stocking several familiar ornaments and a box of Stovetop stuffing with gravy I downloaded Christmas CDs and stocked up on red pillowcases and tea towels I'm slightly Martha Stewart. I pictured using a plant as a Christmas tree. As it turned out Christmas is alive and kicking http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-361398.html Nach langer Zeit mal wieder ein kleiner BlogEintragDie letzten Wochenenden war ich nicht grossartig unterwegs abends ab und zu weg und zwei mal war ich auf den Black Mountains. Das erste Mal alleine und das zweite Mal mit Michael einem LindeKollegen.Sind ungefaehr 500 Hm und man hat vom Gipfel einen schoenen wenn auch ein bisschen diesigen Ausblick ueber Kaifaqu Development Zone.Bei LED http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-354064.html It's been a LONG time since I last wrote and nothing I've written has really been of substance. This won't be any different. I've been living offcampus in Kai Fa Qualmost a month now almost 4 months in China as of next week and it's been greatI don't even mind the 35 minute commute. I take the light rail train into Jinshitan which first thing in the morning isn't bad. I have the company http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-353326.html Hier ein paar Eindruecke vom Golden Pebble Beach wo ich letztes Wochenende war und von der Umgebung meiner Wohnung.Nchstes Wochende fahre ich wahrscheinlich nach Shenyang.Mittlerweile ist es hier eisigkalt. Wie einer gesagt hat It's not the temprature it's the wind that kills you... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-343154.html to be continued http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-341092.html